Sponsors (2)
The bill simplifies and preserves the RFS's transportation-fuel focus by removing electricity-based credits—reducing regulatory complexity and double-counting risk—but does so at the cost of financial losses and reduced incentives for some renewable electricity projects and higher compliance costs that could be passed to consumers.
Consumers, regulated parties, and taxpayers avoid reliance on a novel electricity-based credit (eRINs), preserving the Renewable Fuel Standard's focus on transportation fuels and reducing program complexity and risks of double-counting.
Utilities, renewable electricity producers, investors, and developers face retroactive invalidation of previously generated electricity-based credits, causing direct financial losses and increased legal and investment uncertainty.
Utilities and renewable electricity project owners lose a potential revenue stream from electricity-based credits (eRINs), which reduces project returns and may discourage deployment of some clean electricity projects, slowing local clean energy investment and job growth (especially in rural areas).
Obligated parties under the RFS may have fewer offsets available, raising compliance costs and potentially increasing fuel or compliance costs passed on to consumers and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits EPA from creating or accepting electricity-based RFS credits (eRINs) and bars use/transfer of any such credits generated before enactment.
Prohibits the EPA from creating or allowing the use or transfer of electricity-based Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance credits (often called eRINs) that would come from electricity produced from renewable fuel. It also requires the EPA to forbid use or transfer of any such electricity-based credits that were generated before this law takes effect, effectively invalidating them. The measure narrows EPA authority under the RFS by statute to block an electricity-based credit mechanism for meeting RFS volume obligations and applies that prohibition retroactively to credits already created.
Official title: To clarify that eRINs are not authorized for purposes of satisfying the volume of renewable fuel that needs to be contained in transportation fuel for purposes of the Renewable Fuel Program, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 14, 2025 by Mariannette Miller-Meeks · Last progress March 14, 2025